Eyes Dripping with Honey

Jaein's eyes fluttered open at the sunlight dancing across her eyelids.

The moment she spotted the rays slanting in through the slightly parted curtains, she bolted upright in bed.

When did I fall asleep?

Last night, after washing up and climbing into bed, Jaein had lain staring blankly at the ceiling.

An unfamiliar ceiling. And no matter how many times she looked around, the master bedroom felt utterly strange.

Would she be sleeping here with him once sunbae came back?

The thought of Taeha brought back the kiss he'd left behind, and Jaein pressed a hand to her cheek. The skin where his lips had touched still seemed to burn.

Why does he keep doing things he's never done before?

No, wait—would she even be able to sleep next to sunbae? What was she supposed to do, how react, when he returned?

For all her agonizing, Jaein had drifted off without even realizing it. It was the fatigue that had piled up from barely sleeping these past few days.

Perhaps because she'd finally had a proper night's rest, she felt refreshed as she stretched. Then she glanced around.

Did sunbae leave for work?

But it was far too early for that. The clock on the nightstand still read a few minutes before six.

Wondering if he'd gotten up, she opened the bedroom door—and a rich, evocative aroma flooded her senses.

Coffee.

As if under a spell, she stepped into the dining room and saw Taeha standing on the far side of the long wooden table.

"You're up?"

"Sunbae— I mean, I guess I woke up early. When did you?"

Having nearly called him sunbae out of habit, Jaein darted a glance toward the cameras and sat down on a stool.

The problem was that the words Mister Taeha simply refused to come naturally out of her mouth.

"You asked when I woke up."

He tilted the kettle, and the stream of water swelled the coffee grounds into a round bloom.

"I haven't even been to sleep yet."

Drip, drip.

Jaein, who had been watching the beautiful coffee collect in the carafe, lifted her head sharply.

"Still? Why? Is it the jet lag?"

Their eyes met at close range as he lowered his head. She hadn't realized he'd come so near, and while she sat blinking in surprise, Taeha murmured in a voice pitched just loud enough for her alone.

"It was our wedding night, after all. I couldn't sleep a wink. You, on the other hand, slept just fine."

"Wh-what's that supposed to—!"

Heat flooded Jaein's face in an instant.

Our wedding night? If anyone overheard that, they'd get entirely the wrong idea!

She glanced around frantically, and Taeha straightened up with a snort of laughter.

"React that obviously and the editing team will get curious and pull the audio."

"Sun— I mean, that's because you keep teasing me, Mister Taeha."

"I'm not teasing. I genuinely couldn't sleep, and here you are, well rested."

What is wrong with him?

Anyone watching would think they were newlyweds five years in and still hopelessly in love. As if her heart hadn't nearly dropped out of her chest yesterday over nothing more than a peck on the cheek from this man.

Mindful of the cameras, Jaein turned her head away, pretending not to notice.

"Do you have insomnia?"

At her guilelessly innocent question, Taeha laughed.

"Seo Jaein, I can't tell if you're oblivious or just pretending to be."

"……?"

"See you at the broadcasting station later."

The broadcasting station?

While she sat blinking, Taeha spoke again.

"Forgot? We're scheduled to shoot our profile photos today."

Only then did Jaein remember the profile shoot she'd forgotten amid yesterday's whirlwind of chaos—the pre-release footage and promotional photos to be taken before the show aired. Because filming had taken priority, the profile shoot had been pushed back.

"Oh. Right."

"See you later, then."

"You're leaving for work already?"

Without thinking, Jaein caught Taeha by the wrist as he turned to go. Only then did she notice he was already dressed in a full suit.

"An unscheduled personal appointment came up. Nothing to be done about it."

As he left the living room with those parting words, Jaein's lips twitched with something unsaid.

Oh—I forgot about that.

She'd meant to ask about the call from Junhee last night, the one asking what phone call he was talking about. But the moment yesterday evening's memories resurfaced, the question had evaporated from her mind.

Jaein looked down at the phone resting on the table. Sleeping and waking, the first thing she'd checked had been her phone—yet not a single message had come from anyone in her in-laws' family.

I thought Mother-in-law would call.

Apparently his conversation with sunbae had settled her down.

Still, now that everyone knows about the filming, is this when they'll really start interfering?

Jaein fiddled with her phone. Its utter silence felt strangely unsettling.

Once her meeting wrapped up, Jaein moved to the studio. By the time she arrived, Taeha's shoot was already in full swing.

She sat resting her chin on a table, staring straight ahead. A pristine white backdrop poured down toward the floor like a waterfall, and atop it Taeha sat in a sturdy wooden chair. Studio lights rained down over his head.

Light falling straight from the ceiling traced the man's silhouette, carving out his shadow. His firmly closed lips, his sharply chiseled jawline—and, glimpsed between the two undone buttons of his blue shirt, the deep hollow of his collarbone.

These were nothing more than photos for a variety show. Yet the images reflected on the monitor were indistinguishable from an actor's magazine pictorial.

"Wow. The Vice Chairman could totally go into acting."

Minseop's eyes met hers—they'd evidently been thinking the same thing.

As far as she remembered, he'd actually received countless offers from talent agencies. Seeing him in person like this, she found herself thinking he truly would have suited the profession.

And it struck her anew, all over again, how astonishing it was that she had married this man.

"Seriously though, PD Seo, how on earth did you land someone that incredible? What's your secret?"

"You two dated for ages, didn't you, PD-nim? I heard you two were campus sweethearts all the way back at S University."

Before Minseop's question had even finished, the maknae writer Seul-i popped over and chimed in.

"That much I know from hearing it. I'm asking what our PD Seo Jaein's charm is."

Charm? Do I even have anything like that?

She had simply been the one who happened to be nearby when he needed a woman to marry, that was all.

Jaein had just absently turned her gaze away, watching a staff member approach to clip a lavalier mic onto Taeha's collar, when—

"A man like the Vice Chairman could have any pretty woman he wanted. And even so, he fell for our PD Seo."

"Right? He said he liked Jaein PD-nim, remember? How many years was it again?"

At a story she was hearing for the very first time in her life, Jaein's head whipped around.

"One year? Two years?"

Sunbae said he liked me?

He told them that lie?

Jaein was dumbfounded.

"Could Seul-i have misheard?"

At the question Jaein tossed out, angling to correct the misunderstanding, Seul-i's eyes went wide and round.

"Sorry? No, ma'am. The Vice Chairman said it himself in his pre-interview!"

"His pre-interview?"

Jaein distinctly remembered filming a pre-interview video over the weekend at the network's studio. She had gone alone, chatting about this and that with Main PD Seongho and the main writer.

She hadn't gone with Taeha—so had he filmed one separately? That had struck her as odd at the time, since all the other couples had shot theirs together.

"Ah, did PD Cho not mention it to you, PD Seo? We filmed your pre-interview videos separately."

"Sorry, PD Seo. It was such a rushed shoot that I forgot to pass that along. The Main PD wanted to switch up the format just for Couple No. 3."

Minseop added that they'd decided the two of them would probably have better chemistry shooting apart, and a hollow laugh welled up in Jaein.

"There are plenty of things you could forget—why forget that? I'm a PD on this show too, you know."

"I know, I know. Sorry, sorry. Anyway, you should've seen the Vice Chairman's interview. It was unreal. Everyone was green with envy over you, PD Seo."

"So true! He was talking about you and his eyes were just dripping honey. Honestly, I thought I'd wandered into a bee farm."

"This is why being single is tragic, I'm telling you."

"Go get yourself a boyfriend. Anyway, point is, we're all jealous. The Vice Chairman loves you so much, PD-nim."

"Right? And here we all thought you two were fresh newlyweds."

Minseop and Seul-i snickered at each other, finding the whole thing endlessly delightful. Despite having filmed countless couples over the years, they'd never seen a pair react like this, and Jaein was utterly flustered.

What on earth did sunbae say in that interview?

Head spinning, mouth agape, Jaein turned away.

More than that—this was going to broadcast. How could he just fabricate something like that?

He never once liked me.

No. To begin with, sunbae had a girlfriend back then, didn't he?

At the flood of old memories, Jaein's eyes trembled faintly.